William s



(No Model.)

W. S. WELGH.

SGAPFOLDING.

Patnted Dec. 6, 1887.

IN VENTOR'i vim ATTORNEYS.

I UNITED STATES ATENT 'FFIcE.

WILLIAM S. WELOH, OF WESTFIELD, NEW ERSEY.

SCAFFOLDING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,510, datedDecemberfi, 1887,

Application filed July 30, 1887. Serial No. 245,713. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. WELOH, of Westfield,in the county ofUnion and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Scaffolding, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in scaffolds, and has for itsobject to provide a means of scaffolding cottages and other buildingshaving sloping roofs and in which the gutter cannot be utilized as'asupport; and the further object of the invention is to utilize theordinary ladders employed for house-paint; ing as a support for aswinging scaffold, and, further, to so brace an ordinary ladder that thesame may be stiffened for use as a swinging scaffold, and wherein thebracing may be readily removed when the ladder is used for ordinarypurposes. V

The invention consists in the construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a swinging scaffold constructed inaccordance with my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section ofone of the ladders. Fig. 3 isa perspective view of one scaffold-clamp.Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the ladderscafiold, illustratinga chain applied as a brace.

In carrying out the invention two ordinary ladders, A, are utilized asthe supports, being made to rest upon the ground or other firm supportsat one end and at an inclination against the house at the other or upperend.

Clamps B are provided for the sides of each ladder, consisting ofacurved arm, I), provided at one end at which the curve is most decidedwith an eye, I), and at the opposite end with a substantially U-shapedclutch-bar, d, having one member shorter than the other, which bar ispivoted to the said curved arm by its longer member, as shown in Fig. 3;and the said curved arm I) is provided with a second similar clutch-bar,d, pivoted up on the same side between the first clutch-bar and the eye,but being made to face in the opposite direction. One clamp B isprovided for each side of the ladders near the top, and the clutch-barsare made to embrace the upper andlower edges of the side pieces betweenthe rounds, the two clamps of each ladder being united by a transversebar, E, provided with acentral depression, e, an eye, 6, at each end,and a link,e passing through each eye of the said bar and the eye formedupon the adjacent clamp. A block, D, is hooked over the bar E at itsdepressed portion, and the ropes adapted forattachment to the scaffoldare run through said block, led downward, and secured to the scaffold Din any approved manner. Thus, one ladder being placed near one end ofthe house and the other near the opposite end upon the same side, andeach ladder being supplied with the attachments as above set forth, apainter may work upon the scaffold supported from the ladder the entirelength of the building from top to bottom. I v

The attachment is obviously perfectly safe, as the more weight that isplaced upon the scaffold'the more firmly are the clutch-bars bound uponthe sides of the ladder. When one side of the house has been painted,the ladders and scaffold are readily removed to another side.

In order to use a thirdladder as a swinging scaffold, which ladder wouldin most instances be a longone, it becomes necessary to brace the ladderat the sides longitudinally, in order 'to take the spring from thecenter, so as to render the same straight, It is further desirable thatthe brace should be readily detachable, in order that the ladder may beleft free for ordinary use. To that end I attach a clamp B to each sidepiece of the ladder at each side of the center,the eyes being made toface the ends, and attach to the eyes at each side a piece of rope,,H, alinked bar, or its equivalent, such as a chain, as illustrated in Fig.4, a cable,or a single straightstrand of wire. The clamps are nowcarried away from each other until the rope or bar is tightly drawn, anda block, H, of wood or bar of iron is interposed between the rope andthe central under face of each side piece, bearing upon the same, whichblock causes a tension upon the rope, thereby hold-- ing the clamps inclose engagement with the ladder, the whole attachment forming, as itwere, a truss for each side rail of the ladder.

I do not confine myself to a ladder as asupport, as any form of uprightcapable of being '7 grasped by the clutch may be employed. The laddersare, however, preferred, as a painter need only carry the attachment andthe ladders ordinarily used, and by utilizing them as above set forthscaffold any ordinary building with ease and dispatch without danger orloss of life. 7 7

Instead of an eye being formed at the end of the clamps .B,a,hook may beprovided or other equivalent means of engaging a link.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A clamp for scaffolding purposes, consisting of an arm or bodyprovided with an aperture at one end and substantially U-shaped c1utch-bars pivoted a distance apart'at the other end and facing inopposite directious,substantially as and for the purpose herein setforth.

2. A clamp for scaffolding purposes, consisting of a curved arm or bodyprovided with an eye at one end and substantially U-shaped clutch-barspivoted a distance apart at the other end,adapted to face in oppositedirections, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth. I

3. A device for suspending a scaffold from a vertical or inclinedsupport, consisting of parallel curved arms provided with an eye at oneend and substantially U-shaped clutchbars pivoted at the other end adistance apart, facing in opposite directions, and a transverse barconnecting said arms at the eye, substantially as shown'and described.

4. A device for suspending a scaffold from a vertical or inclinedsupport, consisting of curved parallel arms provided with an eye at oneend and substantially U-shaped clutchof curved arms provided with eyesat one end 4 and having clutch-bars pivotally attached to the other enda distance apart and facing in opposite directions, said arms beingadapted to engage the side rails of the ladder at each side of thecenter, arope or its equivalent uniting the said arms upon each rail,and a block interposing said rails and rope centrally the same,substantially as herein shown and described.

WM. S. WELGH.

\Vitnesses:

J. F. ACKER, J r., EDGAR TATE.

